Bio

Mason Razavi (guitar) and Bennett Roth-Newell (piano) have become frequent collaborators since meeting as graduate students at San Jose State University's Jazz Studies department in 2010. In addition to recording Razavi's Quartet Plus album together and sharing the stage on numerous occasions as a duo and in various groups, they've teamed up release a collaborative album After You. Their debut recording as a duo features familiar tunes alongside original material. Razavi and Roth-Newell have a rare kind of chemistry on stage and play music that ranges from the introspective to toe-tapping grooves not normally heard in the guitar/piano format. Razavi and Roth-Newell are deeply influenced by the great pairings that have come before them including Jim Hall and Bill Evans, Bill Frisell and Julian Lage, and Pat Metheny with Brad Mehldau.

Press

"For their debut as a duo, Mason Razavi and Bennett Roth-Newell have shown that both of them deserve center stage. As great as their previous work had been, the stark spotlight on only the two of them reveals no blemishes or scars—only a beauty that has waited patiently to be revealed. - Travis Rogers, Jazz Times READ MORE

"Razavi and Roth-Newell manage to establish themselves as centrists with a shared belief in the powers of sensitivity, soulfulness, and swing. They finish each other's ideas, support one another during solo flights, and come together to embrace the central thought(s) of each piece. - Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz READ MORE

"The expressive nuance of the two interacting and painting a consistent musical picture is moving, stirring, brilliant and restrained. " - Sylvannia Garutch, The Jazz Word READ MORE

"Mason’s guitar work will astound you, and the fine jazz piano/keyboard work from Bennett is among the best I’ve heard in a good while. " - Dick Metcalf, Improvijazzation Nation READ MORE